• Vodafone Germany appoints new networks chief
• Mavenir revamps its top team
• Telefónica in numerous M&A talks – CEO

In today’s industry news roundup: Vodafone Germany appoints new networks chief; Mavenir makes a number of new top executive-level appointments; Telefónica boss confirms multiple M&A discussions; and more!

IBM has struck a deal to acquire data streaming specialist Confluent for $11bn. Confluent has developed an “open-source enterprise data streaming platform that connects, processes and governs reusable and reliable data and events in real time, foundational for the deployment of AI,” stated IBM. Arvind Krishna, chairman, president and CEO at IBM, stated: “IBM and Confluent together will enable enterprises to deploy generative and agentic AI better and faster by providing trusted communication and data flow between environments, applications and APIs. Data is spread across public and private clouds, datacentres and countless technology providers. With the acquisition of Confluent, IBM will provide the smart data platform for enterprise IT, purpose-built for AI.” Research firm IDC estimates that more than 1 billion new logical applications will emerge by 2028, with IBM noting that this is “reshaping technology architectures across industries. To fuel meaningful outcomes and drive productivity in operations, these applications, as well as AI agents, need access to connected and trusted data – in real time. IBM and Confluent will enable end-to-end integration of applications, analytics, data systems and AI agents to drive intelligence and resilience in hybrid cloud environments,” noted IBM. 

Mavenir has announced a number of major new top-level executive appointments that will come into effect at the end of January 2026 and which will “accelerate its vision for telco-first, cloud-native, AI-by-design networks”. Uli Dopfer has been named as chief financial officer (CFO); Dejan Leskaroski is the new chief revenue officer; Michael Cooper will be general manager of Packet Core, security & messaging; Santhosh Kumar will become general manager of platform & cloud; Sachin Karkala will become general manager of IMS and RAN; and Sandeep Singh will be general manager of business solutions. Mavenir’s senior leadership team “remains strong and collaborative,” stated the company, with Pardeep Kohli (president & CEO), Bejoy Pankajakshan (EVP & chief technology & strategy officer), BG Kumar (president of global operations, sales operations & SCMP), Chuck Gilbert (EVP & chief legal officer), Brandon Larson (SVP & GM of cloud, AI & IMS business strategy), and Ilia Abramov (VP & GM for security) continuing in their current roles. Mavenir has also announced that current CFO Terry Hungle, current head of sales and marketing Bahram Jalalizadeh, current president of core networks Ashok Khuntia, and senior vice president of engineering Anup Mahajan will leave the company at the end of next month. For further details, see this announcement. 

It is “safe to assume” that Telefónica has merger and acquisition (M&A) discussions underway in all four of its main markets – Spain, Germany, the UK and Brazil – the giant telco’s CEO, Marc Murta, told The Times newspaper (subscription required) during an interview published over the weekend. Murta took over as CEO at the beginning of this year and recently unveiled the telco’s new strategy, which focuses on growth in those core markets. Telefónica, via Virgin Media O2 (VMO2), its joint venture with Liberty Global, is believed to be in takeover talks with fibre broadband altnet Netomnia in the UK and has been linked to a potential bid for 5G newcomer 1&1 in Germany, as well as a potential tie-up with Vodafone Spain (now owned by Zegona Communications) in its domestic market, though all such prospective acquisitions would come under intense regulatory scrutiny. Murtra sees growth opportunities in cybersecurity and AI-related services but wants Europe’s lawmakers to loosen regulations and make consolidation easier across the continent. 

Vodafone Germany, the largest single operation in the Vodafone Group, has appointed Fabrizio Rocchio (pictured above) to the role of managing director and network director starting on 1 February 2026. Rocchio replaces the current managing director of technology, Tanya Richter, who, after 30 years with the operator, is stepping down at the end of next month “to pursue new professional challenges”.  Rocchio also has plenty of years under his belt at Vodafone Group, having been with the telco for more than 10 years. From 2014 to 2021 he was technical director at Vodafone Italy, and since 2021 has been Vodafone Germany’s network development director, “driving innovation and excellence in network infrastructure and service operations,” noted the operator in this announcement. Prior to his time at Vodafone, Rocchio also worked at Belgacom (now Proximus). 

– The staff, TelecomTV